Shadow Falcon
by magicforever39
Summary: Zuzana Lišková wasn't expecting to be asked to join a team of cops from all over Europe. She realized that while solving murders with them that parts of her questionable past that she tried so hard to keep buried away would slowly come to light. She tries her best to keep it hidden, while finding herself growing closer to a certain Irishman, but some things just won't stay buried.
1. Prologue

Zuzana Lišková walked into her boss's office wondering what he wanted. "Přál jste si mě vidět kapitáne1?" she asked.

"Yes nadstrážmistr2 Lišková," the captain said speaking in English. Zuzana was wondering why he switched from Czech until she saw the other man standing in the office. "This is Major Daniel from the French National Police and he has a proposal you might be interested in."

"I am putting together a team of cops from all over the Eurozone," Major Daniel explained. "Each has a special skill like you. I was wondering if you would be a part of it Senior Sergeant Lišková. A serial killer has killed three young women in London, Rome, and Dublin in the past ten months. So will you join the team?"

"Where is this team located?" Zuzana asked.

"The Hague," Major Daniel answered. "It's only temporary unless the I.C.C. makes us a permanent team to handle on-going cross border crimes."

Zuzana nodded. "I'm in." She and the major agreed to meet at the train station in a couple hours. Zuzana took care of a couple things at the office before heading home to pack.

When they got off the train they drove to the International Criminal Court. Zuzana walked in behind Major Daniel and saw a group of people gathered around a table. A blonde was the first to look up and Major Daniel introduced her first before going around the table, "Inspector Sienna Pride. Scotland Yard. Interrogation Specialist. Investigator Sebastian Berger, tech genius, Polizei Berlin, Germany. Eva Vittoria, sergeant, anti-mafia. Undercover and covert operations. Detective Tommy McConnell, Police Services, Northern Ireland. And Detective Anne-Marie San, criminal analyst, trafficking crimes specialist. Team, may I present Senior Sergeant Zuzana Lišková, explosives expert, from the Police of the Czech Republic in Prague."

"Hi so what do you guys have so far?" Zuzana asked.

"Well someone's eager to get started," Tommy commented.

Zuzana smirked. "I figured that instead of just standing around talking we could work on catching this čubčǐ syn3 before he kills again and talk at the same time."

"She has a point," Sebastian said.

Zuzana worked on getting caught up with the case so far. "Hey Tommy could you pass me the Dublin file?" she asked the Irishman. When he handed her the file she couldn't help but notice his tattoo of a compass rose when his shirt sleeve rode up a bit. He pulled his sleeve back down and Zuzana could tell that it wasn't a tattoo he wanted to talk about. She certainly knew that feeling. Instead after she thanked him for giving her the file she mentioned something else she noticed, "So you're a fighter huh?"

"Yeah so?" Tommy asked. "How could you tell?"

Zuzana smiled, "Oh I don't have a problem with it. In fact one of my good friends is a fighter. I could tell you were one by your hands and you have a similar look about you to what my friend has."

"Really what's this friend's name?"

"Eliot," Zuzana replied. Tommy didn't press her to elaborate and they went back to discussing the case.

* * *

**Fair warning I don't know what the Czech police system is like so I just went with some information that I knew some American police systems used (Captain being the boss of the precinct) and for Zuzana's rank I got it from a site I found using Google. If I made any mistakes either in the system or in my translations in Czech that I used Google Translate for please let me know.**

**Translations: **

**1 - You wished to see me Captain?**

**2 - senior sergeant**

**3 - son of a bitch**


	2. Chapter 1

Anne-Marie had just gotten back from Paris with news that the killer had struck again and that Major Daniel was going to Amsterdam to try to recruit a cop called Carlton Hickman. The team had gone onto Google to find out what they could about their possible new teammate and Zuzana was impressed by Hickman's track record. They were currently going over what Anne-Marie had brought back on the Paris murder.

Zuzana was just walking back from getting a drink of water when she heard Major Daniel introducing the rest of the team. He just finished introducing Anne-Marie when Zuzana walked up. "And Senior Sergeant Zuzana Lišková. Policie české republiky in Prague. Explosives expert." Major Daniel said pointing at her.

"Hi," Zuzana said nodding her head in greeting.

Tommy turned around surprised to see her there. "When did you get there?"

"Just now," Zuzana said smirking. She always enjoyed sneaking up on people and there was a reason part of her 'nickname' her family gave her was Shadow.

"Detective First Grade Carlton Hickman," Sienna said beating Major Daniel to the punch.

"You prefer Carl," Sebastian added.

"NYPD," Eva said.

"Former NYPD," Tommy corrected walking away from the golden-brown haired Czech officer a little freaked out at how she snuck up on him.

"Led the department in arrests six years running," Anne-Marie said.

"In convictions, too," Zuzana said impressed.

"Four years as NYPD liaison in Europol after 9/11," Sebastian said.

"Then back to New York where you led the department in arrests again," Eva continued.

"Until you were shot in the hand," Sienna said.

"Chasing a child abduction suspect," Zuzana added.

"Who got away," Tommy aid.

"But you saved the child," Anne-Marie corrected.

"Impressive use of Google," Hickman said causing most of the team to look down and chuckle.

"Yeah well, here's one thing I couldn't find on Google," Tommy said leaning against a pillar. "If you're so bloody good, why'd the NYPD sack you?" Zuzana looked at Hickman wondering what his reaction would be.

"I'm only here because… Louis asked me to come – If I'm so bloody good…" Hickman scoffed. "You can kiss my ass in Macy's window." He turned and left. Major Daniel went after him.

"Well done McConnell," Zuzana said rolling her eyes.

"Macy's window?" Sebastian asked confused.

"It's a shop in New York," Sienna told him.

"You would know that," Tommy told her chuckling slightly.

"Well it's not just in New York, it's all over America," Eva added.

"Pretty high end too apparently," Zuzana said. _At least according to Sophie._

"Why would his ass be in the window?" Anne-Marie asked confused.

"Waiting to be kissed by Tommy McConnell," Sebastian told her. Tommy looked at him irritated while Sienna and Zuzana laughed. They milled around waiting to see if Major Daniel would be able to convince Hickman to come back. Tommy was tossing a ball and catching it on the back of his hand either because he was bored or showing off. Zuzana wasn't sure but if it was the latter she was tempted to pin the wall to the wall with one of her knives. If he wanted to show off she'd show him that two could play at that game.

"I was sacked because my bosses were bastards who stabbed me in the back," Hickman said coming back into the room. "Also I'm on permanent heavy meds and I have a useless right hand, the hand that I shoot and write with, so I can't fill out a report or hold a gun. Any other questions?" Zuzana couldn't help but smirk when Hickman looked at Tommy when he said the last part.

"Not right now," Tommy replied.

"Good," Major Daniel said. "So let's stop a monster before he kills another woman."

"So the first victim was in Rome seven months ago," Eva said pointing to a map of Europe with flags on the cities where the murders took place. "A young girl in Villa Borguese Park."

"Same thing in Dublin," three months later," Tommy said. "Phoenix Park."

"London's Richmond Park one month ago," Sienna continued.

"And, night before last, Parc de Saint-Cloud in Paris," Anne-Marie said putting a photo on the table.

"Each killed in a large park in a capital city," Major Daniel said.

"He's putting on a show," Sebastian said.

"Tosser like this always is," Tommy said just as Zuzana said, "Psycho like this always is." He looked at her and smirked while Anne-Marie talked about how the time between victims was getting shorter.

Wen Hickman asked if any of the women had been identified, Major Daniel said that they couldn't do to the damage done to the faces and jawlines and how their fingerprints were removed. Eva said how the women didn't match any missing persons reports in from their countries.

"He also removes clothing, jewelry, anything we could use for secondary identification," Zuzana said. "Basically instead of concealing their identities he erased them."

"They'll mess up. They always do," Tommy said confidently.

"Can we want to wait that long though?" Zuzana asked. "Unless he's already messed up in Paris." They played with the theory that prostitutes sometimes go missing but because of their health they obviously weren't street and that brought them back to how no one could be looking for them.

"We've got nothing at all but four faceless nameless bodies," Sienna sighed.

"That's not necessarily true," Hickman interrupted speaking for the first time since asking about whether they'd been identified. He explained, "Every fact has a reverse. Having no identifying information means- could mean… he went through a lot of trouble to keep them unidentifiable. Why do that/"

"If they were connected to them," Anne-Marie said in realization.

"If we I.D. them," Hickman said. "It would probably lead us directly to him."

Major Daniel stepped up. "So job one, who are all these women?" Sienna and Tommy go to the Paris Morgue and follow up with the body. Anne-Marie take Hickman and Zuzana to the Parc de Saint-Cloud crime scene. Sebastian go as well, and use your new equipment. We should be able to join you all in Paris by nightfall. Alright?" Zuzana accepted her train ticket from Anne-Marie and went to grab her stuff.


	3. Chapter 2

**Just wanted to let you know that the Leverage team will be mentioned a few times in this story but it isn't going to become a crossover between the two shows.**

* * *

When they reached Paris they were greeted by a French detective who called them the I.C.C. Team from The Hague and gave them the keys to two cars.

"That's service," Tommy commented.

"I.C.C. Team?" Sienna asked.

"I didn't know we had a name," Sebastian said.

"It's like we're the Justice League or something," Hickman said confusing most of the team. Anne-Marie wondered what it was and Sebastian looked it up on his phone.

"How do you lot not know that?" Tommy asked stunned. "What did you read when you were kids?"

"Biographies," Anne-Marie said.

"Encyclopedias," Sebastian answered.

"Things with grown up words," Sienna said turning around to walk backwards.

"Guess I didn't get the same books as you Cheltenham Girl's school lot," Tommy said. After Sienna corrected him he replied, "Alright. Ladies is it?" What about you Zuzana, did you read the dictionary as a kid?"

Zuzana chuckled, "As a kid no I read classics like Shakespeare, Homer, and Arthur Conan Doyle." She smirked. "But I actually knew about the Justice League because when I left home I read whatever I could get my hands on and that included comic books."

"Wow never would've pegged you as a bookworm," Tommy said smirking.

"There's a lot about me that would probably surprise you," Zuzana replied smiling before they went their separate ways.

When they reached the crime scene Hickman and Anne-Marie went on ahead while Zuzana helped Sebastian with his equipment. "Wow that's a lot of equipment."

Sebastian smiled, "Yeah and I bring it to every crime scene."

"Why?" Zuzana asked taking one of the cases.

"You'll see," Sebastian replied as they headed up to the entrance where the guard was commenting on how the killer was being called another Ripper.

"There's a difference. This one's going to be caught," Hickman said before they walked past the tape.

"Do you really think we'll catch this Ripper?" Anne-Marie asked Hickman.

"Don't call him that," Hickman responded. "Jack the Ripper killed five women in five completely different locations. Every scene was more brutal than the last. He took prizes, body parts. Everything for him was post kill."

"And this guy?" Zuzana asked.

"This guy does the same thing every time in the same type of place. He seems to have some sort of ritual that plays out before the murder. Everything after is to conceal the crime. They couldn't be more different."

"Other than the fact that they're both sick, twisted bastards," Zuzana commented as they went under the tape that surrounded the actual crime scene.

Sebastian started setting up his equipment while Hickman and Anne-Marie discussed how the killer got his victim to the park. "So what is this?" Zuzana asked. Anne-Marie looked over wondering the same thing.

"It's a variation on a virtual autopsy device," Sebastian said. "It uses light amplification beams to scan a scene thousands of times so we can recreate it holographically. I call it Scangen, because, well, it generates scans."

"Interesting," Zuzana said as Anne-Marie headed over to talk to Hickman who was very interested in the leaves on a tree. Sebastian put the final pieces together and Hickman and Anne-Marie headed into the trees.

Sebastian and Zuzana knelt by one of the cases and Sebastian turned the Scangen on saying, "Scanning."

Zuzana let out a low whistle as she watched the image appearing on the screen. "Wow Hardison would love to get his hands on this just to see how it works." At Sebastian's questioning glance she said, "He's a friend and a self-proclaimed geek who loves anything to do with technology."

"Really?" Sebastian asked.

Zuzana nodded. "Really."

Sienna and Tommy walked up. "Where are Hickman and Anne-Marie?" Sienna asked.

"They headed that way," Zuzana said. "It looked like they were following something." The four of them headed into the woods and when they reached the other two they saw Anne-Marie holding a shoe.

"It says…uh…C.G." Anne-Marie told Hickman looking at the inside of the shoe.

"That's Charles Gallant," Sienna said. "A pair of shoes costs more than fifteen hundred pounds."

"That's almost two thousand Euros," Anne-Marie said shocked.

"I've never really understood why someone would pay that much money for a single pair of shows," Zuzana muttered eyes wide at how much that shoe cost.

"If she is a pro, she's a good one," Tommy said.

Sebastian took the shoe and looked at it. "First piece of actual evidence he's left behind." He passed the shoe to Sienna.

"Hard to believe we're looking for wealthy victims," Tommy said.

"Who no one is looking for?" Zuzana said.

"Exactly."

"And yet, it's odd," Sienna said studying the shoe. "It's actually a very old style."

"Inspector Pride has a fashion criticism for the victim?" Tommy asked in a way that one couldn't quite tell if he was teasing or just commenting.

"What do you mean by old?" Hickman asked.

"It looks vintage," Sienna explained. "It's unusual for Charles Gallant."

"Do you think he sells a lot of these?" Anne-Marie asked.

"I don't know many people who can afford them," Sienna replied.

"If I sold shoes like those," Anne-Marie said, "I'd want to keep track of who bought them so I could sell them more."

"Which means a database," Zuzana said.

"The main dealer's here in Paris," Sebastian said having found it on his phone. Anne-Marie stepped to the side to call the manager while they bagged the shoe.

Anne-Marie walked back over saying, "So not only do they keep track of their customer base, but the shoes are handmade. There's a serial number in the sole of each shoe that corresponds to the customer."

Zuzana smirked as Tommy said, "Which means a name."

"Yeah," Anne-Marie said. "The store's about to close, but the manager's waiting for us."

"Let's go," Hickman said. "You four wait for Louis at the crime scene. We'll go." They all headed back to where Sebastian's equipment was.

"So this whole crime scene can be reproduced now?" Tommy asked impressed.

"In holographic form," Sebastian explained taking his Scangen apart and putting it away.

"That's unbelievable," Sienna said.

"That's an impressive toy," Tommy said after Sebastian talked about how they used it on a case once.

"We can even use it to find any evidence missed the first time," Sebastian said.

"Are you saying we missed something?" a Frenchman asked walking up.

"No, I meant-" Sebastian started to say before being interrupted.

"Who are you all?"

"We're police officers with-" Sienna said holding out her badge.

"We're investigating a mur-" Tommy said.

"Investigating?" the Frenchman asked interrupting yet again. Zuzana was really starting to get annoyed by this guy. "What the hell are four foreign officers doing inside a Parisian crime scene?"

"It's kinda hard to explain," Zuzana said trying to be as polite as possible, "but Major Daniel will be on his way to-"

"Good. He can come collect you at Headquarters."

"What?" Tommy asked as Zuzana said "Excuse me?!" She had taken a step forward and was pissed now. She couldn't stand it when she was interrupted and this Frenchman had no respect for them. He didn't even let them finish a single sentence.

"Will handcuffs be necessary?" Mr. I'm-so-important-I'll-interrupt-you-every-time-you -open-your-mouth asked Tommy and Zuzana. Zuzana glared at him and decided to stay silent instead of making the snappish retort she so wanted to. They all headed back to the Headquarters in separate cars, Zuzana fuming the whole way.

At Headquarters the head officer had them all locked up in one of the holding cells. Zuzana sat in one corner resting her head against the wall with her eyes closed while Tommy was at the other end of the bench and Sienna in between them. Sebastian was pacing at the front while the Frenchmen looked through their stuff.

"I'd really rather you didn't," Sebastian said to the Frenchman who was looking at his Scangen.

"I didn't mean traveler camps smell," Sienna said to Tommy.

Zuzana opened her eyes slightly thinking, _Ah so that was the tattoo. I wasn't sure. _She smirked slightly when she heard Sebastian call the Frenchman an idiot.

"I only meant that you living like that," Sienna continued to explain. "Living in a camp with a lot of other families, you must've… come across bad smells."

"Is this an apology?" Tommy asked making Zuzana wonder just what Sienna had asked him and made her glad she hadn't brought it up the other day herself.

"It's meant to be," Sienna said.

"You're an only child, right?" Tommy asked her. "Parents like yours, a solicitor and an MP; they don't go in for a mess of kids."

"What's your point?" Sienna asked.

"I'm proud I grew up pave. Four brothers and three sisters, and we didn't have jack… but we had a family." Zuzana looked at Tommy noticing that there was a kind of sadness to his words like maybe it was true once but something changed and it wasn't any more. Tommy noticed Zuzana looking at him and was going to say something before he saw the look of understanding and pain in her own eyes like maybe she knew what he was talking about but wasn't actually saying.

"No!" Sebastian yelled at the Frenchman pounding on the glass. "Don't press that button! I haven't downloaded the images from the park yet."

"Images? From my crime scene?" the rude Frenchman from earlier asked coming and opening the door.

"Your crime scene?" Tommy asked. Sienna tried to stop him but he was standing up same with Zuzana.

"His crime scene?" Zuzana wondered shocked that someone could be so incompetent.

"They missed the wounds in the wrists and thighs," Tommy said angrily as he and Zuzana walked over to stand in front of the officer.

"They missed the blood spatters in the trees," Zuzana added.

"And they missed the shoe," Tommy finished.

"Shoe?" the officer asked.

"Major Daniel can explain," Sienna said standing up to diffuse the situation before Tommy or Zuzana punched the guy. She tried to get on the officer's good side and calm him down. The calming down worked but other than that no.

When she wouldn't tell him about the shoe he locked them in again. "If you removed evidence from a crime scene, I'll have you all brought up in front of a judge."

"You went through us like we were virgins on our wedding night," Tommy yelled angrily at the officer.

Zuzana flinched slightly at the mention of wedding night and missed the rest of what Tommy said. Her hand automatically went to her left ring finger where a diamond ring used to be a few years ago. Seeing Major Daniel and Eva walk in snapped her out of old memories.

Major Daniel got them out of the cage and Eva opened her bag saying, "I brought identification and guns."

"Ah welcome home girls," Tommy said pulling out his guns. Zuzana chuckled slightly at that as she pulled out her own gun and two knives. "Knives huh?" Tommy asked her.

"Yes," Zuzana said slipping one into her right boot and the smaller one onto her left forearm.

"You know how to use them?" Tommy asked teasingly.

Zuzana flicked her left wrist and the knife shot in her hand so she could point it at Tommy. "Wanna try me?" He chuckled while she smiled.

"Commisaire Laveaux," the Frenchman who Sebastian had been yelling at said from where he was in the phone. "An American in reporting a murdered man in a shoe store and an officer missing."

"What shoe store?" Tommy asked as those who knew about the shoe looked at the man on the phone in worry.

_Don't say Charles Gallant. Don't say Charles Gallant. _Zuzana thought. When the Frenchman said Charles Gallant, she sighed. _He said it._


End file.
